WAR 


Unnecessary  and  Unchristian 


AN  ANNOTATED  ESSAY 

BY 

AUGUSTINE  JONES,  A.M.,  LL.  B. 


This  Essay,  prepared  originally  by  request  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Friends  of 
New  England,  has  been  recently  revised  by  the  author  for  re-publication  by 
The  American  Peace  Society. 


BOSTON  : 

The  American  Peace  Society. 

I9°7* 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
OAK  STREET 


Nil  desperandum  Christo  Duce. 


S-AoS 


WAR  UNNECESSARY. 


The  constant  changes  which  mark  human  progress,  the 
development  in  political,  social,  moral  and  religious  life, 
stimulate  readjustments  and  urge  fresh  presentations  of 
truth.1  Each  generation  is  required  to  declare  and  teach 
the  great  fundamental  doctrines  of  peace,  earnestly  and 
vigorously,  without  the  least  hesitation  on  account  of  the 
greater  services  of  others,  or  of  the  excellent  literary 
productions  which  this  subject  has  called  forth  in  former 
times.2 

Our  Savior  taught,  both  by  precept  and  example,  the 
truth  uttered  by  Angels  at  his  birth,  “ Peace  on  Earth 

1 “ New  occasions  teach  new  duties; 

Timemakes  ancient  good  uncouth; 

They  must  upward  still  and  onward, 

Who  would  keep  abreast  of  truth.” 

The  Present  Crisis — Lowell . 

2 See  Barclay’s  Apology,  Prop.  XY. ; Dymond’s  Essays,  Chap. 
XIX.;  Gurney’s  Observations,  Chap.  XI.;  5 William  E.  Chan- 
ning’s  Works,  109;  Life  and  Speeches  of  theRt.  Hon.  John  Bright, 
Vol.  I.,  207,  230,  Yol.  II.,  325,  326;  A.  P.  Peabody,  18  Chr. 
Exam.,  368;  Charles  Sumner,  True  Grandeur  of  Nations; 
Arthur  Helps,  Friends  in  Council,  Second  Series,  Yol.  I.,  62; 
John  Ruskin,  The  Crown  and  Wild  Olive,  98;  Prize  Essays  on 
a Congress  of  Nations,  by  T.  C.  Upham  and  others;  Sheldon 
Amos,  Political  and  Legal  Remedies  for  War;  1 Buckle’s  Hist. 
Civil,  in  Eng.,  190, 191,  202-223;  John  Bascom,  Ethics,  or  Science 
of  Duty,  324-335;  16  Friends’  Review,  115;  Thomas  Carlyle, 
Sartor  Resartus,  Book  II.,  Chap.  8,  19;  10  Encyc.  Bib.  Theol.  and 
Ecc.  Lit.,  by  McClintock  and  Strong,  876-883;  Gesta  Christi,  by 
Charles  L.  Brace,  355;  A Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Labors  of  Elihu 
Burritt;  Memoir  of  William  Ladd,  The  Apostle  of  Peace. 


cr-3 


4 


and  Good  Will  toward  Men.”  1 It  seems  needless  to  review 
the  abundant  and  frequently  quoted  passages  of  Scripture 
which  establish  this  view.  And  I proceed  at  once  to  declare 
that  war,  aside  from  the  scriptural  argument  against  it,  is 
an  unnecessary  evil,  which  ought,  according  to  sound 
reason  and  ethics,  to  be  abolished. 

The  great  leading  publicists  are  sufficiently  agreed  that 
all  international  questions  may  be  referred  to  arbitration, 
except  (1)  those  involving  national  existence  or  inde- 
pendence, (2)  schemes  of  policy,  and  (3)  questions  of 
national  honor.2 

It  is  quite  evident,  as  to  the  matter  of  this  excepted  list, 
that  the  difficulty  at  the  root  is  dishonesty  and  mutual  dis- 
trust.3 Good  faith  requires  that  the  existence,  inde- 
pendence and  honor  of  each  nation  should  be  guarded 
by  other  nations ; as  civil  government  protects  the  life, 
property  and  character  of  each  citizen.  And  certainly 
schemes  of  policy  ought  to  perish  which  are  not  honest 

1  “Lend,  once  again,  that  holy  song  a tongue, 

Which  the  glad  Angels  of  the  Advent  sung, 

Their  cradle-anthem  for  the  Saviour’s  birth, 

Glory  to  God,  and  peace  unto  the  earth !” 

The  Peace  Convention  at  Brussels , 1848 — Whittier. 

See  also  the  Life  and  Labors  of  Elihu  Burritt,  53. 

2 Pol.  and  Legal  Remedies  for  War,  by  Sheldon  Amos,  120. 

3 O for  Abraham  Lincoln’s  faith  in  the  virtue  and  justice  of 
men.  He  said  in  his  first  Inaugural  Address:  “ Why  should  there 
not  be  a patient  confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  people  ? Is  there 
any  better  or  equal  hope  in  the  world?”  And  why  not  in  the  jus- 
tice of  nations  ? 

“ A song  of  faith  that  trusts  the  end 
To  match  the  good  begun, 

Nor  doubts  the  power  of  Love  to  blend 
The  hearts  of  men  as  one  ! ” 

The  Peace  Anthem — Whittier. 


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and  thoughtful  of  the  just  and  equal  rights  of  all  men  and 
nations.  This  national  distrust  is  similar  to  that  which 
the  small  States  of  the  United  States  cherished  towards 
the  large  ones  at  the  formation  of  the  Confederation  of 
1781,1  and  at  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1788. 2 

The  jealousy  and  distrust  among  the  American  States 
was  groundless,  and  this  Union  has  shown  the  possibility 
of  a federation  of  the  nations  of  the  earth,  reserving  to 
each  nation  all  power  except  in  certain  limited  and  specific 
international  matters.  This  distrust  is  a remnant  of  the 
ancient  belief  that  each  nation  is  the  natural  enemy  of 
every  other  nation.  It  is  far  behind  the  spirit  of  u What- 
soever ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even 
so  to  them.”  It  has  not  even  advanced  to  the  commercial 
idea  that  no  trade  is  of  value  which  does  not  benefit  both 
parties,  or  the  republican  experience  in  politics  that  the 
prosperity  of  all  the  States  rests  upon  the  prosperity  of 
each  and  every  State. 

The  enormous  evil  of  war  is  exhibited  in  the  following 
statistics  and  statements  : 3 

1 1 Story  on  the  Const.,  §§  224-228. 

2 2 Bancroft’s  Hist,  of  the  Const.  U.  S.,  336-350:  Rawle  on  the 
Const.,  13,  14;  1 Story  on  the  Const.,  §§  272-305. 

3 “What,  speaking  in  quite  unofficial  language,  is  the  net  pur- 
port and  upshot  of  War?  To  my  own  knowledge,  for  example, 
there  dwell  and  toil,  in  the  British  village  of  Dumdrudge,  usually 
some  five  hundred  souls.  From  these,  by  certain  ‘Natural  Ene- 
mies * of  the  French,  there  are  successively  selected,  during  the 
French  war,  say  thirty  able-bodied  men ; Dumdrudge,  at  her  own 
expense,  has  suckled  and  nursed  them;  she  has,  not  without  diffi- 
culty and  sorrow,  fed  them  up  to  manhood,  and  even  trained  them 
to  crafts,  so  that  one  can  weave,  another  build,  another  hammer, 
and  the  weakest  can  stand  under  thirty  stone  avoirdupois.  Never- 
theless, amid  much  weeping  and  swearing,  they  are  selected;  all 
dressed  in  red;  and  shipped  away,  at  the  public  charges,  some  two 
thousand  miles,  or  say  only  to  the  south  of  Spain ; and  fed  there 
till  wanted.  And  now  to  that  same  spot  in  the  south  of  Spain, 


6 


The  wars  of  European  and  American  nations  during 
the  period  from  1790  to  1880,  or  ninety  years,  destroyed 
four  millions  and  four  hundred  and  seventy  thousands  of 
human  lives ; and  fifteen  billions  and  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five  millions  of  dollars  of  the  proceeds  of  human 
industry.1  This  is  an  average  of  fifty  thousand  lives  and 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  millions  of  dollars  for  each 
year  of  the  period.2 

But  the  present  standing  armies  of  Europe  contain 
about  four  millions  of  men  on  a peace  footing,  at  an  an- 
nual cost,  if  you  include  their  possible  productive  labor, 
of  two  billions  and  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  millions 
of  dollars,  and  these  soldiers  are  a constant  menace  to  the 

are  thirty  similar  French  artisans,  from  a French  Dumdrudge, 
in  like  manner  wending;  till  at  length,  after  infinite  effort,  the 
two  parties  come  into  actual  juxtaposition  ; and  Thirty  stands 
fronting  Thirty,  each  with  a gun  in  his  hand;  straightway  the 
word  ‘Fire’  is  given;  and  they  blow  the  souls  out  of  one  another; 
and  in  place  of  sixty  brisk,  useful  craftsmen,  the  world  has  sixty 
dead  carcasses,  which  it  must  bury,  and  anew  shed  tears  for.  Had 
these  men  any  quarrel?  Busy  as  the  Devil  is,  not  the  smallest! 
They  lived  far  enough  apart;  were  the  entirest  strangers;  nay,  in 
so  wide  a Universe,  there  was  even,  unconsciously,  by  commerce, 
some  mutual  helpfulness  between  them.  How  then  ? Simpleton  I 
their  Governors  had  fallen  out ; and,  instead  of  shooting  one 
another,  had  the  cunning  to  make  these  poor  blockheads  shoot. — 
Alas,  so  it  is  in  Deutschland,  and  hitherto  in  all  lands;  still  as  of 
old,  ‘What  devilry  soever  Kings  do,  the  Greeks  must  pay  the 
piper!’  Sartor  Besartus , Book  II. , Chap . 8,  118,  119. 

1 W.  E.  H.  Lecky  says:  “ The  great  majority  of  wars  during  the 
last  thousand  years  may  be  classified  under  three  heads : Wars  pro- 
duced by  opposition  of  religious  belief,  wars  resulting  from  erro- 
neous economical  notions  either  concerning  the  balance  of  trade  or 
the  material  advantages  of  conquest,  and  wars  resulting  from  the 
collision  of  the  two  hostile  doctrines  of  the  Divine  right  of  kings 
and  the  rights  of  nations.  In  the  first  instance  knowledge  has 
gained  a decisive  victory,  and  in  the  second  almost  a decisive  vic- 
tory.”—2 Bationalism  in  Europe,  219. 

2 Mulhall’s  Diet,  of  Statistics  465. 


7 


peace  of  the  world.1  Indeed  they  are  one  of  the  most 
potent  causes  of  war.  What  need  would  exist  for  forts 
on  the  borders  of  nations,  or  of  bristling  armies  along 
their  boundaries,  if  their  intentions  were  just  and  upright  ? 2 
They  are  no  longer  required  on  the  confines  of  cities, 
towns,  counties,  or  of  the  States  of  a republic. 

This  immense  loss  of  life  and  property  would  have  been 
avoided,  if  nominal  and  professed  Christian  nations  had 
been  Christian  in  spirit  and  in  truth, — if  the  wisest,  purest, 
and  most  cultivated  Christian  citizens  had  guided  the 
nations.  The  contrast  between  the  moral  obligations  of 
neighbors  and  citizens  in  their  relations  to  eacha>ther,  and 
the  moral  obligations  of  nations,  as  taught  and  practised 
in  their  intercourse  with  each  other,  is  striking  and 
marvellous,  and  certainly  is  not  to  the  credit  of  the 
nations.3 

1 The  total  number  of  men  in  Europe  trained  for  war,  including 
the  reserves  and  those  still  liable  to  service  though  no  longer  con- 
sidered a part  of  the  armies,  is  now  over  twenty  millions. 

2 W.  E.  H.  Lecky  says:  “ The  conceptions  that  the  interests  of 
adjoining  nations  are  diametrically  opposed,  that  wealth  can  only 
be  gained  by  displacement,  and  that  conquest  is  therefore  the 
chief  path  to  progress,  were  long  universal;  but  during  the  last 
century  political  economy  has  been  steadily  subverting  them,  and 
has  already  effected  so  much  that  it  scarcely  seems  unreasonable 
to  conclude  that  the  time  will  come  when  a policy  of  territorial 
aggrandizement  will  be  impossible.  At  the  same  time  the  exten- 
sion of  free  trade  has  undoubtedly  a tendency  to  effect  the  Hisin- 
tegration  of  great  heterogeneous  empires,  by  destroying  the 
peculiar  advantages  of  colonies  and  of  conquered  territory ; while 
railways  and  increasing  knowledge  weaken  national  antipathies, 
and  facilitate  the  political  agglomeration  of  communities  with  a 
common  race,  language  and  geographical  position.” — 2 nationalism 
in  Europe , 219. 

3 Johu  Kuskin  says:  “The  Christian  religion  which  we  have 
been  taught  for  two  thousand  years,  is  still  so  little  conceived  by 
us,  that  we  suppose  the  laws  of  charity  and  self-sacrifice  bear 
upon  individuals  in  all  their  social  relations,  and  yet  do  not  bear 
upon  nations  in  any  of  their  political  relations.” — 3 Stones  of 
Venice , 168. 


8 


Courts  have  taken  the  place  of  private  wars  between 
men,  between  clans,  between  cities,  between  counties, 
they  have  superseded  trials  by  battle  and  duels,  while 
war,  the  most  gigantic  relic  of  barbarism,  survives 
these  kindred  evils.  But  as  huge  blocks  of  ice,  floating 
from  the  pathless  regions  of  the  North,  dissolve  in  sum- 
mer seas,  so  war,  the  aggregate  of  human  evils,  descend- 
ing from  darker  ages,  is  melting  beneath  the  light  and 
heat  of  Christian  civilization. 

The  murderous  equipments  of  war  rendered  more  fatal 
by  the  inventions  of  succeeding  years,  are  detracting  in- 
tensely from  the  attractions  of  war  and  the  profession  of 
arms. 

The  stratagems  and  tactics,  the  skilful,  almost  super- 
human manoeuvring  of  troops  in  battle  which  have  enliv- 
ened the  pages  of  historians,  and  have  been  the  themes  of 
hero  worshippers  from  Alexander  to  Napoleon,  are  at  an 
end.  For  entire  battalions  of  troops  can  now  be  swept 
from  life  to  eternity  by  terrible  explosives  and  engines  of 
war  with  a destruction  as  swift  as  that  which  blasted  the 
host  of  Sennacherib. 

“For  the  Angel  of  Death  spread  his  wings  on  the  blast 
And  breathed  in  the  face  of  the  foe  as  he  passed; 

And  the  eyes  of  the  sleepers  waxed  deadly  and  chill, 

And  their  hearts  but  once  heaved  and  forever  grew  still.” 

Byron. 

Who  in  the  near  future  will  care  to  learn  and  practise  a 
business,  which  is  surely  ceasing  to  be  an  elegant  art, 
and  is  losing  its  fascination  as  a profession,  whose  places 
of  conflict  have  deteriorated  from  august  arenas  of  heroes, 
to  dismal  and  ghastly  fields  of  human  slaughter?  1 

i “Time  was,  when  the  exploits  of  war, the  heroes  of  many  battles, 
the  conquerors  of  millions,  the  men  who  waded  through  slaughter 
to  thrones,  the  kings  whose  footsteps  were  darkened  with  blood, 


9 


Most  of  us  are  inclined  to  take  a kindly  and  charitable 
view  of  the  last  war  of  the  United  States.  We  rejoice  in 
what  we  conceive  to  be  its  results,  such  as  the  destruction 
of  slavery,  the  preservation  of  the  unity  and  integrity  of 
the  nation,  and  possibly  of  constitutional  liberty  in  the 
earth.  But  we  seldom  measure  the  real  cost  of  the  means 
used.  We  lost  six  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand  men 
or  about  one-sixth  as  many  as  there  were  slaves,  and 
three  billions  and  seven  hundred  millions  of  dollars,1  not 
including  the  loss  of  the  labor  and  industry  of  the  vast 
armies,  North  and  South,  during  the  four  years  of  war. 

and  the  sceptred  oppressors  of  the  earth  were  alone  deemed 
worthy  themes  for  the  poet  and  the  orator,  for  the  song  of  the 
minstrel  and  the  hosannas  of  the  multitude.  Time  was,  when 
feats  of  arms  and  tournaments  and  crusades  and  the  high  array 
of  chivalry  and  the  pride  of  royal  banners  waving  for  victory  en- 
grossed all  minds.  Time  was,  when  ministers  of  the  altar  sat  down 
by  the  side  of  the  tyrant  and  numbered  his  victims  and  stimula- 
ted his  persecutions  and  screened  the  instruments  of  his  crimes — 
and  there  was  praise  and  glory  and  revelry  for  these  things. 
Murder  and  rapine,  burning  cities  and  desolated  plains,  if  so  be 
they  were  at  the  bidding  of  royal  or  baronial  feuds,  led  on  by  the 
courtier  or  the  clan,  were  matters  of  public  boast,  the  delight  of 
courts,  and  the  treasured  pleasure  of  the  fireside  tales.  But  these 
times  have  passed  away.  Christianity  has  resumed  her  meek  and 
holy  reign.” — Discourse  of  Judge  Story  of  Salem , Mass.,  1828, 
p.  58. 

1 Mulhall’s  Diet,  of  Statistics,  465. 

“ It  also  follows  from  what  has  preceded,  that  the  vast  destruc- 
tions of  war  are  mainly  a destruction  of  Capital . War, cannot  be 
carried  on  except  by  means  of  property  actually  existing,  nor  for 
any  length  of  time,  or  to  any  extent,  except  by  means  of  property 
existing  in  the  form  of  capital.  These  savings,  previously  employed 
productively,  are  the  source  whence  war  supplies  are  drawn ; the 
capital  is  absolutely  destroyed ; the  war  debt  remaining  is  only  a 
memorial  of  this  destruction,  and  an  obligation  resting  upon  some- 
body to  create  new  capital  with  which  to  replace  the  old  ; the  debt 
does  not  carry  on  the  war,  but  transfers  the  capital  from  individuals 
to  the  government;  and  war,  accordingly,  is  the  greatest  enemy  to 
exchanges,  because  it  annihilates  a portion  of  the  central  agencies 
which  carry  them  forward.” — Elements  of  Political  Economy , 
Arthur  L.  Perry , LL.D .,  283. 


10 


The  valuation  set  on  the  slaves,  at  the  request  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  in  1862,  by  members  of  Congress  from 
the  border  States,1  was  three  hundred  dollars  each,  and 
assuming  their  number  at  four  millions,  which  is  an  over- 
estimate, the  value  of  all  the  slaves  in  the  United  States 
was  on’e  billion  and  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  or 
less  than  one-third  of  the  money  cost  of  the  war. 

But  it  is  questionable  whether  the  loss  of  men  and 
money  was  our  greatest  detriment.  The  subtle  moral 
evil  which  pervades  society  and  invades  every  household, 
and  is  clearly  traceable  to  this  source  ; the  record  of  in- 
creasing crime  which  blackens  the  journals  of  the  land, 
and  takes  its  date  and  beginning  from  1862  ; the  feverish 
war  spirit  which  survives  in  military  organizations  and 
the  minds  of  men,  producing  an  imminent  tendency  to 
war,  which  did.  not  previously  exist ; the  sectional  hatred 
between  the  North  and  South,  outlasting  generations  ; the 
contention  and  bitterness  of  conflicts  between  races  and 
between  castes,  makes  an  accumulation,  a sum  total  of 
evil,  beyond  calculation. 

The  citizens  of  the  whole  country  had  participated  in 
the  proceeds  and  the  results  of  slavery,  and  there  was  an 
element  of  justice  in  their  sharing  in  the  loss.  Waiving 
the  question  of  the  title  or  right  of  property  of  the  slave- 
holders,' and  remembering  that  compromise  must  be  made 
where  interests  conflict,  even  in  the  construction  of  gov- 
ernments, and  for  a stronger  reason  in  incidental  matters, 
we  reach  the  conclusion  that  compensated  emancipation 
was  the  only  wise  and  proper  mode  of  ending  the  con- 
troversy. It  is  true  that  the  slaveholders  would  not  sell, 
and  we  would  not  buy ; but  what  either  did  do,  or  would 

1 American  Politics,  by  Thomas  V.  Cooper,  Book  I.,  138.  139. 


11 


do,  is  not  the  question.  It  is  rather  what  both  ought  to 
have  done.1  If  both  sides  were  proud,  passionate  and 
perverse,  and  for  those  reasons  missed  the  true  way  of 
adjustment,  then  their  mistake  ought  to  be  held  up  to  the 
deliberate  judgment  of  mankind  forever,  as  a beacon  and 
a warning.  The  experience  acquired  should  henceforth 
have  its  full  effect  in  human  affairs.  We  have  dwelt  long 
upon  this  special  war,  because  it  is  so  recent,  and  its  ex- 
periences are  so  vivid,  and  because  no  war  can  ever  seem 
more  just  and  plausible,  than  our  side  of  this.  It  was 
largely  a struggle  for  freedom  of  others,  and  not  for  our 
own.  If  it  might  have  been  avoided,  then  it  furnishes 
a strong  foundation  for  believing  that  war  is  an  unneces- 
sary evil. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  wise  and  far-seeing,  blessed  with 
special  opportunities  for  clear  and  distinct  views  of  the 
issue,  and  a true  understanding  of  affairs,  gave  the  weight 
of  his  great  name  and  judgment  to  compensated  eman- 
cipation in  1 862. 2 He  was  overborne  by  the  passions  of 
men,  and  the  din  of  war.  But  subsequent  events  have 
vindicated  his  wisdom.  Our  risk  was  great ; we  ap- 
proached much  nearer  to  financial  exhaustion  than  was 
then  publicly  known. 

It  was  a unique  war.  Slavery  was  the  cause.  But 
slavery  itself  was  a fruit  of  war,  beginning  with  the 
capture  in  Africa,  continuing  through  the  middle  passage, 

1 Schiller  says:  “Whoever  fails  to  turn  aside  the  ills  of  life  by 
prudent  forethought,  must  submit  to  fulfil  the  course  of  destiny.” 

“ Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to  decide, 

In  the  strife  of  Truth  with  Falsehood,  for  the  good  or  evil  side.” 

The  Present  Crisis — Lowell. 

2 See  President  Lincoln’s  Special  Message  to  Congress  March 

2,  1862. 


12 


and  then  in  the  cruel  bondage  in  America.  It  began, 
went  on  and  ended  in  violence,  and  produced  violent  men. 
It  has  now  ceased  in  nearly  every  Christian  land ; it 
remains  for  war,  its  44  twin  relic  of  barbarism,”  to  follow, 
and  for  every  sincere  Christian  to  hasten  its  departure. 

International  law  and  international  morality  are  in  a 
crude  and  unadvanced  stage.1  It  is  admitted  that  nations 
are  bound  to  abide  by  their  treaties,  to  be  thoughtful  and 
considerate  in  making  war,  to  desist  from  needless 
cruelty  and  not  to  abuse  victory.  But  each  nation  is 
largely  a law  unto  itself.  Since  there  is  no  superior 
authority,  legislative,  judicial  or  executive,  each  govern- 
ment interprets  international  law  in  its  own  interest,  re- 
gardless of  the  legal  maxim  that  44  no  man  can  be  judge 
in  his  own  cause.”  2 

The  diffusion  of  knowledge,  and  of  Christian  ideas 
throughout  the  earth,  is  preparing  the  minds  of  all  men 
for  codes  and  judgments  according  to  law,  in  pure  and 
impartial  courts,  for  the  supremacy  of  reason  and  justice  in 
place  of  violence  and  brute  force.  Steam,  electricity,  the 
press,  cheap  postage  and  universal  commerce  are  weld- 
ing the  nations  rapidly  into  one  brotherhood  4 4 and  hu- 
man life  is  in  some  sense  prolonged  by  an  almost  limit- 

1 “ In  fact  a writer  on  international  law  has  to  be  perpetually 
on  the  verge  of  controversy.  He  must  embark  on  almost  endless 
discussion  of  a mixed  mass  of  precedents  and  reasons,  in  which 
the  exact  value  of  the  precedents  is  seldom  known,  and  the  rea- 
sons are  constantly  biassed  by  theoretical  assumptions,  or  political 
interest.  No  doubt  there  is  a certain  amount  of  settled  principle, 
but  the  application  of  it,  by  different  states,  in  their  conduct,  and 
by  different  writers  in  their  books,  is  so  various,  that  what  agree- 
ment there  is  appears  at  times  to  be  illusory.” — Essays  in  Juris- 
prudence and  Ethics,  by  Frederick  Pollock , 31,  34. 

Also,  Political  and  Legal  Remedies  for  War,  by  Sheldon  Amos, 
85.  International  Law,  by  Theodore  D.  Woolsey,  396-412. 

2 Broom’s  Legal  Maxims,  116. 


13 


less  power  of  converse. ” This  cause,  at  this  period  in 
human  history,  considering  the  immense  interests  involved 
in  it,  commends  itself  to  statesmen,  philanthropists  and 
Christians,  with  an  impressiveness  unknown  before. 
“ The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous.  ” 

The  printing  press  has  disseminated  the  principles  of 
peace,  it  has  bound  the  nations  together,  by  the  inter- 
change of  thought,  lifting  them  towards  the  same  moral 
and  spiritual  plane.  But  it  has  sown  tares  with  the 
wheat.  Literature  is  charged  with  a martial  spirit. 
Physical  violence  and  inhuman  cruelty  are  the  substance 
of  the  most  thrilling  scenes  in  fiction.  History,  oratory, 
poetry  and  art  combine  to  exalt  and  embellish  the  tri- 
umphs of  war. 

While  not  a monument  in  the  world,  perhaps,  suggests 
to  mankind  the  grandeur  and  beneficence  attendant  upon 
peace,  the  statues  of  heroes  and  emblems  of  war  teach 
their  lesson  of  military  glory,  unsullied  by  destruction  or 
misery,  in  the  squares  and  gardens  of  great  cities,  and 
the  public  places  of  the  earth. 

These  memorials  are  particularly  hurtful  at  an  early  age 
in  life,  when  physical  courage  is  most  attractive,  and  acts 
of  valor  most  admired,  and  taste  and  character  are  in  their 
most  formative  condition.  But  this  is  less  baneful  than 
the  education  of  children  in  the  use  of  arms,  at  the  public 
expense,  which  is  furnished  in  some  parts  of  the  United 
States.1  Europe,  which  is  one  great  armed  camp  of 

1 I conceive  Boys’  Brigades  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  perils  of  our 
times.  Here  ingenuous  youth  under  the  guise  and  sanction  of 
religion  are  introduced  into  a training  which  cannot  fail  to  foster  in 
their  minds  militarism,  and  to  educate  them  into  a personal  pride 
and  ambition  in  executing  the  movements  and  tactics  of  soldiers, 
and  to  admire,  at  last,  “the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  war.”  If  it 
could  offer  the  excuse  of  being  good,  healthful,  physical  exercise 
it  would  be  more  reasonable,  but  modern  science  has  disallowed 


14 


soldiers,  always  ready,  if  we  except  England,  is  exceed- 
ingly unfortunate  in  this  quality  of  education,  because 
every  boy  must  become  an  actual  soldier,  and  devote  a 
large  share  of  his  scanty  school  days  to  learning  the 
theory  and  practice  of  war.  Certainly  no  one  has  cause 
to  marvel  that  the  balance  of  power  and  the  peace  of 
Europe  are  in  constant  peril. 

The  simple  waste  of  time  and  mind  are  serious  enough, 
but  when  both  are  perverted,  and  devoted  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  persons  and  property,  it  is  deplorable  in  the  ex- 
treme. How  vastly  different  the  aim  and  purpose  of  such 
education  from  that  which  presents  the  noble  arts  of  peace, 
the  conquest  of  mind  over  matter,  the  subjugation  of  the 
earth,  rendering  it  a more  perfect  home  for  men,  the 
training  of  immortal  minds  for  eternity,  under  the  full 
light  of  the  great  commandment,  “ Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself.’’ 

The  union  of  church  and  state  has  always  compromised 
and  weakened  the  influence  of  Christianity  against  war. 
It  is  painful  to  observe  that  persons  holding  exalted 
places  in  the  Christian  church,  so  called,  and  among  high 
officers  of  state,  are  seldom  opposed  to  war,  but  as  a 
rule  most  heartily  approve  of  it.1  To  be  sure  they  have 
plausible  excuses  ; both  sides  of  every  war  since  the 
beginning  of  time  have  been  seemingly  fair. 

It  is  not  the  union  of  church  and  state  which  is  to  be 

even  this  pretext  for  it.  It  is  wholly,  without  mitigation,  bad 
and  mischievous  from  the  start. 

1“Rosy  and  sleek,  the  sable-gowned  divine^ 

O’er  his  third  bottle  of  suggestive  wine, 

To  plumed  and  sworded  auditors,  shall  prove 
Their  trade  accordant  with  the  law  of  Love ; 

And  Church  for  State,  and  State  for  Church,  shall  fight, 

And  both  agree,  that  Might  alone  is  Right !” 

The  Peace  Convention  at  Brussels — Whittier . 


15 


sought.  It  is  the  moving  of  the  state  by  the  force  of  an 
aggregate  of  sincere,  independent  Christians  creating  a 
healthy  and  pure  public  opinion,  which  is  to  accomplish 
the  desired  result. 

It  is  in  the  power  of  the  so-called  Christian  states  to 
annihilate  war  at  will.  They  have  carried  on  very  many 
of  the  most  cruel  wars  in  history,  bearing  signs  and  em- 
blems of  the  Prince  of  Peace  with  utter  inconsistency 
throughout  their  merciless  conflicts. 

While  we  admit,  as  we  must  without  hesitation,  the 
long  record  of  most  unchristian  deeds  done  in  the  name 
of  Christianity,  without  a shade  of  authority  from  the 
precepts  or  example  of  our  Saviour,  we  are  as  certain  that 
Christianity  is  the  hope  of  the  world. 

We  therefore  turn  joyfully  from  this  dark  record  to  the 
brightest  one  in  history.  International  law  has  little  or 
no  force  beyond  the  influence  of  Christianity,  which  has 
suppressed  private  war  on  the  land,  has  destroyed  private 
war  or  piracy  on  the  sea,  and  reduced  privateering.  It 
defends  the  rights  of  neutrals.  It  protects  the  prisoner 
of  war  from  massacre  and  slavery,  and  guards  him 
against  inhuman  treatment.  It  has  put  an  end  to  the 
killing  of  unarmed  enemies  and  the  useless  destruction  of 
life  and  propert}^.1  It  protects  woman.  It  has  already 
substituted  arbitration  for  war  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
attract  the  attention  and  challenge  the  approval  of  the 
most  powerful  nations.2 

1 Geneva  Convention  for  the  succor  of  the  wounded  in  time 
of  active  warfare,  10  Encyc.  Brit.,  152;  Hayden’s  Diet,  of  Dates, 
310. 

2 “ There  is  no  doubt  that  the  violence  of  war  has  in  fact  been 
regulated  and  moderated  to  an  extent  that  seemed  impracticable 
in  the  time  of  Grotius.” — Essay  in  Jurisprudence  and  Ethics , by 
F.  Pollock , 36. 

See  also  Gesta  Christi,  by  Charles  L.  Brace,  355 ; International 


16 


The  power  of  a nation  is  not  in  its  forts  and  armaments. 
It  is  in  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  its  citizens  ; in  an 
exalted  and  healthy  public  sentiment ; while  peace  and 
domestic  and  foreign  tranquillity  are  the  supreme  objects 
of  local,  national  and  international  government.  u Those 
who  are  not  against  us  are  for  us.”  We  may  personally 
and  privately  hold  Christian  ideals  of  non-resistance,  or 
disinterested  love,  and  still  be  co-workers  with  all  men 
and  nations  in  the  effort  to  prevent  and  abolish  war,  or 
mitigate  its  attendant  miseries. 

Law  and  courts,  including  arbitration,  are  the  natural 
and  proper  substitutes  for  war.  They  have  already  ob- 
tained supremacy  in  private  affairs ; soon  they  will  be 
used  in  disputes  between  nations,  and  men  will  marvel 
that  war  was  once  possible. 

War  has  been  improperly  regarded  as  an  instrument  of 
justice.  Itself  the  greatest  of  evils,  it  is  justified  as  a 
remedy  for  evil.  The  remedy  is  worse  than  the  disease. 
War  is  the  product  of  centuries  ; it  must  be  overcome 
little  by  little.  A sound,  healthy  public  policy  must  be 
created,  to  avoid,  confine,  reduce  and  extinguish  it. 

Agitation  against  war  must  be  maintained,  earnestly 
and  constantly.  A true  public  conviction  must  be  created, 
that  political,  commercial  and  social  prosperity  are  only 
possible  with  peace ; that  war,  stripped  of  its  glamour, 

Law,  by  Theodore  D.  Woolsey,  222-230;  Geneva  Arbitration,  2 
Cycl.  Polit.  Sci.,  331;  Old  and  New,  VI.,  126,  IX.,  529;  137  Ed.  R., 
264;  85  Fraser,  381;  132  Quar.,  535;  7 Am.  Law  R.,  193,  348; 
10  Inter.  R.,  435;  8 Am.  Law  R.,  13;  3 Radical,  558;  The  Nation 
XIL,  332,  XV.,  133,  180,  245,  377,  XVII.,  271,  XVIII.,  390, 
XXIII.,  53;  2 Penn  Mo.,  109;  102  N.  Am.  Rev.,  473;  1 Inter. 
Rev.,  104,  156;  Colburn  Mag.,  144;  22  Tail.  Mag.  N,  S.,  293;  90 
Eel.  Rev.,  236;  Speech  of  Rt.  Hon.  John  Bright,  March  13th, 
1865:  see  also  his  Public  Addresses,  205;  Friends’  Review,  XXVI., 
180,  366,  618;  lb.,  XXVII.,  23,  789,  XXVIII. , 782;  Peace 
Jubilee,  Life  and  Labors  of  Elihu  Burritt,  367. 


17 


its  tinsel,  and  the  magnetism  of  masses  of  men,  concen- 
trated into  one  tremendous  destructive  force,  is  repulsive  ; 
that  modern  armaments  are  only  the  teeth,  tusks,  claws 
and  horns  of  animals,  the  beaks  and  talons  of  birds,  and 
the  fangs  of  serpents,  sharpened,  extended  and  multi- 
plied, with  all  the  intensity  which  ages  on  ages  of  human 
ingenuity,  utterly  without  mercy,  have  made  possible. 

The  Romans  were  educated  in  war ; they  delighted  in 
cruelty,  in  combats  of  gladiators,  and  in  the  insolent 
pomp  of  triumphs.  The  Athenians  were  cultivated, 
humane  and  benevolent,  but  became  excited  by  the  rivalry 
of  Corinth,  which,  through  Roman  influence,  had  adopted 
gladiatorial  shows,  and  it  was  proposed  to  introduce  such 
exhibitions  into  Athens.  Demonax,1  the  Athenian,  cried 
out  from  the  Assembly:  “ First  throw  down  the  altar 
erected  to  Mercy  above  a thousand  years  ago  by  our 
ancestors.” 

We  ourselves  stand  at  the  end  of  almost  two  thousand 
years  of  Christian  teaching,  with  its  culture,  its  tender- 
ness of  human  rights,  its  beautifully  blended  justice  and 
mercy.  Christian  nations  ought  to  learn  war  no  more ; 
they  ought  to  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares.  Every 
Christian  ought,  in  the  spirit  of  his  Master,  to  maintain, 
deep  down  in  his  heart,  an  irrepressible  conflict  with  war. 

The  same  earnest,  conscientious  effort  of  the  people, 
which  has  crushed  so  many  corrupt  things,  will  subdue 
this  gigantic  evil.  The  remedies  for  war  are  abundant, 
and  the  combined  action  of  all  of  them  is  needed.  A 
deeper  and  clearer  spiritual  view  of  the  Gospel ; more 
faith  and  sincere  obedience  to  conviction.  The  cause 
demands  that  the  real  nature  of  war,  its  crime,  its  folly, 

1 Introduction  to  Rollins’  Ancient  History,  XXVIII. 


18 


and  :ts  utter  uselessness  be  constantly  kept  before  the 
people. 

Societies  and  organizations,  with  large  funds  capable 
of  being  used  in  any  manner  which  shall  be  most  effective 
from  time  to  time,  would  seem  to  be  as  sure  and  direct  as 
anything.  They  were  very  useful  in  the  anti-slavery 
agitation.  Literature  is  far-reaching,  penetrating  to  every 
home,  and  its  use  in  this  direction  should  be  extended  a 
thousand  fold  at  once.  Public  lectures  and  addresses, 
full  of  facts,  are  of  immense  value. 

It  is  not  enough  to  repeat  texts  of  Scripture,  and  to 
assert  over  and  over  again  what  nobody  can  gainsay  with 
any  success,  that  our  Saviour  and  the  first  Christians1  were 
totally  opposed  to  war.2  It  will  be  far  more  effective  to 
present  the  advantages  of  arbitrations,  of  courts,  the 
loss  of  men  and  of  money,  the  real  intrinsic  nature  of  war. 
The  newspaper  correspondents  in  recent  times  have  by 
their  realistic  descriptions,  raised  the  curtain,  and  revealed 
to  the  public  some  of  the  loathsome  details  of  war,  with 
good  effect.  It  needs  only  to  be  known,  and  its  horrors 
and  its  worthlessness  realized,  to  suppress  it.  Christian 
ministers  of  all  denominations  ought  to  be  earnestly  and 

1 Early  Church  History,  Backhouse  and  Tylor,  221,  555. 

2 The  Rt.  Hon.  John  Bright  said  in  1853:  “You  have  even  con- 
ceived the  magnificent  project  of  illuminating  the  whole  earth, 
even  to  its  remotest  and  darkest  recesses,  by  the  dissemination  of 
the  volume  of  the  New  Testament,  in  whose  every  page  are  writ- 
ten forever  the  words  of  peace.  Within  the  limits  of  this  island 
alone,  on  every  Sabbath,  twenty  thousand  — yes,  far  more  than 
twenty  thousand  temples  are  thrown  open,  in  which  devout  men 
and  women  assemble,  that  they  may  worship  Him  who  is  the 
‘Prince  of  Peace.’  Is  this  a reality?  or  is  your  Christianity  a 
romance  ? Is  your  profession  a dream  ? ” 

He  said  again  in  1880:  “ I say,  let  us  abandon  our  pretensions; 

let  us  no  longer  claim  to  be  Christians;  let  us  go  back  to  the 


19 


tenderly  visited,  in  an  open-hearted,  persuasive  manner 
and  spirit,  for  their  united  co-operation  would  extirpate 
war.  They  are  our  necessary  and  natural  coadjutors  and 
allies  in  this  cause  of  our  Master.1 

And  finally,  as  we  reflect  upon  the  duration  and  magni- 
tude of  war,  the  sum  of  all  evils,  and  consider  how  feeble 
we  are  as  Christians,  we  turn  to  the  Source  of  everlast- 
ing strength ; the  cause  of  peace  is  His  own,  and  it  will 
prevail.  Let  our  prayers  ascend  to  Him  without  ceasing, 
that  He  will  bless  our  humble  efforts  ; that  His  light  and 
truth  may  penetrate  every  human  heart,  with  convincing 
power ; that  righteousness  and  peace  may  cover  the  land 
as  the  waters  do  the  sea,  and  God’s  will  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven. 

The  Society  of  Friends  from  its  origin  has  held  that 
war  was  an  evil  and  a crime,  forbidden  both  by  the  teach- 
ings and  example  of  our  Lord.  It  has  never  hesitated 
for  a moment  to  maintain  and  teach  that  the  ideal  peace, 
which  most  Christians  have  heretofore  relegated  to  the 
millennium  period,  is  to  be  sought  and  struggled  for  now 
and  always ; that  it  is  by  loyal,  faithful  obedience  to 
Christ,  and  an  abiding  trust  in  Him  far  beyond  the  scope 

heathen  times,  whilst  we  adhere  to  the  heathen  practices  [hear, 
hear] ; let  us  no  longer — as  I see  some  of  the  leading  men  of  this 
country  have  been  doing  within  the  past  few  weeks,  at  the  open- 
ing of  churches  and  at  the  laying  of  the  foundation  stones  of 
churches— join  in  all  the  apparent  regard  for  the  Christian  reli- 
gion. Take  down,  at  any  rate,  your  Ten  Commandments  from 
inside  your  churches,  and  say  no  longer  that  you  read,  or  believe 
in,  or  regard  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Abandon  your  Christian 
pretensions,  or  else  abandon  your  savage  and  heathen  practices.” 
[Loud  app’ause.]— Life  and  Speeches  of  John  Bright  Vol.  210, 
Vol.IL,  326. 

1 We  may  joyfully  adopt  the  motto  of  George  Whitefield,  “ Nil 
desperandum  Christo  duce;”  Nothing  is  to  be  despaired  of  with 
Christ  for  our  leader. 


20 

of  our  puny  reason,  that  millennial  peace  in  each  indi- 
vidual soul  is  to  extend  until  it  fills  the  whole  earth. 

We  exhort  our  brethren  everywhere  to  remember  how 
much  this  cause  has  received  already  from  the  steadfast, 
unwavering  testimony  of  our  Christian  fathers.  Shall  we 
falter?  It  is  not  enough  to  be  free  from  an  active  share 
in  war.  We  are  not  to  stand  in  stoical  indifference.  We 
must  be  positive,  aggressive.1  It  is  of  the  very  method 
and  essence  of  Christianity  to  force  the  light  into  dark- 
ness. If  we  have  great  and  unusual  light,  it  is  an  un- 
merited gift,  it  comes  charged  with  responsibility.  We 
ought  therefore  to  welcome  every  effort  and  join  hands 
with  all  men  and  all  measures  which  seek  the  overthrow 
of  this  common  enemy  of  mankind. 

1 “ Still  keep  the  path  which  duty  bids  ye  tready 
Though  worldly  wisdom  shake  the  cautious  head; 

No  truth  from  Heaven  descends  upon  our  sphere, 
Without  the  greeting  of  the  sceptic’s  sneer; 

Denied  and  mocked  at,  till  its  blessings  fall, 

Common  as  dew  and  sunshine,  over  all.” 

The  Peace  Convention  at  Brussels , 1848 — Whittier. 


